Usually in the summer we work on establishing meaning of three structures via Circling and weaving the resultant PQA into a story. This summer in MN we will of course work on that, but I would like to at least try to focus on other things as well:
1. The first day of class – what is the best way to approach those first all-important days when we establish our classroom culture for the rest of the year? As in chess, there are standard openings and I would like to suggest a standard opening for the year for the first class and for the first month, in detail. This way of starting the year will of course reflect much of the discussion here on the PLC over this past year, including things like when and how to introduce English, which strategies to use, etc.
2. How to set up readings using Reading Option A after finishing a story.
3. Visual PQA. I am almost certain now that Julie will be there to talk about how and why she designed this form of PQA.
Also on the list, if we have time to get to them, are:
Word Associations
Circling with Balls
One Word Images
TPR
Word Chunk Team Game
Dictée
Look and Discuss
Verb Slam Activity
Super Mini Stories
Interactive Whiteboards
Jobs for Kids
MovieTalk
Star of the Week
Animal Parade
Running/Drawing Dictation
Tric a Quiz
Of course, the War Room is for teachers to teach teachers and get feedback on anything they want to work on, but maybe we can get some work in on at least some of the above topics so we can all go into our classrooms next year with lots of ammunition.
The Problem with CI
Jeffrey Sachs was asked what the difference between people in Norway and in the U.S. was. He responded that people in Norway are happy and
